SICK insight: Why does SICK make a corporate statement and what is its general aim?

Anne-Kathrin Deutrich: We have not simply provided ourselves with a corporate statement, but analysed the long history of our corporate culture and formulated our identity and aims in this statement. Whether independence, innovation or leadership – SICK has only been so successful during the last 50 years because these values have been active components of the corporate culture. So the statement did not need to be invented but “merely” analysed, supplemented by the long-term aims of the company, and succinctly formulated. The intention is to harmonise employees and the environment with the company now and in the future. Simultaneously, of course, it also serves as a confident positioning of SICK in the automation technology market.

SICK insight: What significance does the slogan “Sensor Intelligence.” have in this context?

Dr. Robert Bauer: The slogan unmistakably shows our customers what they can expect from us: intelligent sensors. We are sensor specialists who employ new technologies in their innovations, come up with new solution possibilities, become increasingly intelligent through sensor technologies, consistently extend the state of the art, and thus display active leadership. All this, of course, only works when, like SICK, one also has the necessary independence to act autonomously and exercise free-will within the market. So you see: the technical content of our corporate statement and corporate culture are closely interwoven with one another.

SICK insight: Whether purchasers, system integrators or plant operators – what does SICK’s corporate statement offer customers?

Dr. Robert Bauer: Independence, innovation and leadership are values that play a major role for many customers. Our corporate statement promises that customers can rely on it and demand its fulfilment. We say: our products are open for all system environments. Customers can thus integrate the sensors as they want, because they can expect the interface options from us. We say: we open up markets with innovative products and solutions. Our customers know that they are knocking on an open door when they come to us with new sensor requirements. We say: our technological leadership allows us to create superior customer advantage. Our customers know that they can rely on support from SICK if there are problems realising this promised advantage. Then there are the non-technical aspects that can be grouped together under the term “security”. Will the company still exist in ten years? How dependable is the company? What value do its employees’ statements have? Can one rely on the entire package “SICK”? The corporate statement communicates a clear answer: yes. And our “we” statements make it clear that we are actively working on the further development of these values – that are of such importance for our corporate culture.

SICK insight: Those are very clear, strong statements. How do we internationalise these demands?

Anne-Kathrin Deutrich: You have raised an important point there. Our subsidiaries are responsible for about 70% of sales worldwide and are ahead in many markets. In the past, our recipe for success was: worldwide leadership with local expertise. And this is retained in the corporate statement. Many employees in our subsidiaries have been actively involved in the analysis and formulation of the corporate statement. They contributed their ideas and now implement them autonomously locally. This will undoubtedly take place at differing rates and with differing intensities – but the catalogue of joint values, and the definition of joint aims, have been formulated so that customers all over the world can treat the corporate statement as a promise and demand its application.

SICK insight: Thank you very much for this conversation.